Seats of Power in Europe during the Hundred Years War

Description

The Hundred Years' War between England and France is a story of an epic conflict between two nations whose destinies became inextricably entwined throughout the later Middle Ages. During that time the balance of architectural power moved from religious to secular domination, the Gothic form continued to grow and the palace-fortress was in the ascendancy. Seats of Power in Europe is a major new study of the residences of the crowned heads and the royal ducal families of the countries involved in the Hundred Years' War. Though they were the leading protagonists and therefore responsible for the course of the war, do their residences reflect an entirely defensive purpose, a social function, or the personality of their builders? As well as the castles of England and France it also looks at rulers residences in other European countries who supported one of the protagonists. They include Scotland, Castile, Aragon, Navarre, Portugal, the Low Countries, the imperial territories of Bohemia, and the papacy in Avignon and then Rome.
The study concentrates on sixty properties extending from the castles at Windsor and Kenilworth to those at Saumur and Rambures, and from the palaces at Avignon and Seville to the manor-houses at Germolles and Launay. A number of subsidiary or associated properties are also considered in more broad-based sections. Each region and its residences are prefaced by supporting historical and architectural surveys to help position the properties against the contemporary military, financial, and aesthetic backgrounds.
Extensively illustrated in full colour with over 120 photographs and over 70 plans this is an attractive and accessible overview of how architecture both shaped and was influenced by events during this tumultuous period in the history of Europe. Essential reading for students of architecture, architectural historians, historians and those interested in Medieval Europe.

About Author

Anthony Emery's career as an architectural historian was launched with his monograph Dartington Hall (OUP 1970) analysing the most spectacular medieval mansion in the West of England. Specialist studies on Wingfield Manor, Raglan Castle and Penshurst Place were preparatory to his survey of all the principal (and some of the lesser) medieval residences of England and Wales. It took eighteen years to describe and assess over 750 houses built between 1300 and 1500, published in three volumes as Greater Medieval Houses of England and Wales (CUP 1996-2006). For students, Discovering Medieval Houses (Shire 2007) drew particular attention to the relevance between the country's political and residential development. Seats of Power in Europe During the Hundred Years War extends this view across the Channel.